Our Very First Award!

Posted on February 4, 2014 by Administrator

Best Of Houzz 2014 Award

Annual Survey and Analysis of 16 Million Monthly Users

Reveals Top-Rated Building, Remodeling and Design Professionals

North Texas, February 4, 2014 – Texas Tiny Homes of Granbury, Texas has been awarded “Best Of Houzz” by Houzz, the leading platform for home remodeling and design. The one year old tiny and small home design/build company was chosen by the more than 16 million monthly users that comprise the Houzz community.

The Best Of Houzz award is given in two categories: Customer Satisfaction and Design. Customer Satisfaction honors are determined by a variety of factors, including the number and quality of client reviews a professional received in 2013. Design award winners’ work was the most popular among the more than 16 million monthly users on Houzz, known as “Houzzers,” who saved more than 230 million professional images of home interiors and exteriors to their personal ideabooks via the Houzz site, iPad /iPhone app and Android app. Winners will receive a “Best Of Houzz 2014” badge on their profiles, showing the Houzz community their commitment to excellence. These badges help homeowners identify popular and top-rated home professionals in every metro area on Houzz.

“Houzz provides homeowners with the most comprehensive view of home building, remodeling and design professionals, empowering them to find and hire the right professional to execute their vision,” said Liza Hausman, vice president of community for Houzz. “We’re delighted to recognize Texas Tiny Homes among our “Best Of” professionals for customer satisfaction as judged by our community of homeowners and design enthusiasts who are actively remodeling and decorating their homes.”

With Houzz, homeowners can identify not only the top-rated professionals like Texas Tiny Homes, but also those whose work matches their own aspirations for their home. Homeowners can also evaluate professionals by contacting them directly on the Houzz platform, asking questions about their work and reviewing their responses to questions from others in the Houzz community.

Follow Texas Tiny Homes on Houzz http://www.houzz.com/pro/texastinyhomes/texas-tiny-homes.

Texas Tiny Homes is a new side-line company of Bryan Smith Homes, a Dallas – Fort Worth luxury home builder since 1977, that has designed and built some of the finest residences in North Texas; including homes and residential subdivisions in North Dallas, Preston Hollow, Plano, Frisco, Irving, Las Colinas, Southlake, Keller, Grapevine, Farmers Branch, Grand Prairie, Richland Chambers Lake. Texas Tiny Homes is currently scouting for the perfect lot in the Granbury area to build its first model home on.

Straw-bale Construction

Posted on February 1, 2014 by Administrator

Straw-bale construction is a building method that uses bales of hay (commonly wheat, rice, rye and oats straw) as structural elements, building insulation or both. This construction method is commonly used in natural building or “brown” construction projects. Research has shown that straw-bale construction is a sustainable method for building, from the standpoint of both materials and energy needed for heating and cooling.

Advantages of straw-bale construction over conventional building systems include; the renewable nature of straw, cost, easy availability, naturally fire-retardant and high insulation value. Disadvantages include susceptibility to rot, difficulty of obtaining insurance coverage, and high space requirements for the straw itself. Research has been done using moisture probes placed within the straw wall in which 7 of 8 locations had moisture contents of less than 20%. This is a moisture level that does not aid in the breakdown of the straw. However, proper construction of the straw-bale wall is important in keeping moisture levels down, just as in the construction of any type of building.

What are your thoughts on incorporating straw bales into building new homes?

Clothesline Tiny Homes | Carrie and Shane

Posted on January 31, 2014 by Administrator

After being married for about a year, Carrie and Shane Caverly gave themselves the ultimate couple’s test. With her background in sustainable design and his in building green homes, the couple worked together to plan and build their own 200-square-foot tiny home on a flatbed trailer. And although it was challenging at times, the collaborative process was truly a bonding experience.

The couple started building in Prescott, AZ in February of 2012 and were able to move into their small house by the middle of May. In Mid-August, their desire to be closer to the Rocky Mountains brought them to a town 10 miles outside of Santa Fe, NM, where they now rent a portion of a larger property.

But before the big move, Carrie was teaching at a sustainable design school and Shane was building green homes (he still does), and lived in an average house that wasn’t sustainable and green. “So we decided we should start walking the talk,” Caverly says. And ultimately, the financial benefits were what finally pushed them to do it. “We just wanted to change our lifestyle so that we were living within our means,” Caverly says.

At first, she wasn’t a huge fan of the idea, Caverly admits. “We had just gotten married, and I thought it was a crazy idea for two people to live that close,” she says. “I was worried i wouldn’t have enough personal space and we would be way too on top of each other.” But all of her worrying ended up being for naught. Right now, he goes to work every day and she works from home, so they have a healthy amount of time away from each other.

Not So Tiny Teapot | United Kingdom

Posted on January 31, 2014 by Administrator

If you fancy something a little bit different then this fantastic and undoubtedly unique, multi-functional, two-story space could be just what you have been looking for and could be put to any number of uses.

The Magical Teapot would make a fabulous addition to any visitor attraction – as a feature for a children’s playground; as a quirky fishing hut; as a reception area/tea room/exhibition space etc; as a VIP lounge/viewing platform or press office at any outdoor event or simply the most enchanting “Hobbit Hideaway”.

One thing is for sure, it always makes folk smile, lifts their spirits – they just can’t help themselves!

The two story detached structure is 21 ft in diameter. Sold as seen for collection by purchaser. Supervised dismantling and re-erection service also available by separate negotiation.

The particulars from agents Rettie for the ‘detached house’ known as The Magical Teapot, at Lilliesleaf, Melrose in the Scottish Borders suggest that this two story property would also be ideal for a playground, fishing hut, tea room, VIP lounge or ‘Hobbit Hideaway’. It would, of course, make an ideal garden office too.

Meet Dee Williams | She’s Living Large In a Tiny Home

Posted on January 29, 2014 by Administrator

“The more intentional you are in your choices, the more every change makes room for more changes … I just love that there’s this endless potential.”
—DEE WILLIAMS

In 2003, Dee Williams was a classic slacktivist. She says so herself. Yes, she was passionate about social justice and environmental issues, but she spent most of her free time driving back and forth to Lowe’s and Home Depot for materials to remodel her three-bedroom house in Portland, Oregon. “I would feel like a grand national champion because I’d found a great parking space, or gotten a really great deal on a piece of plywood.”

Then events conspired to deal out a dose of humility.

She went to Guatemala and helped build a school, a friend’s emails from Uganda brought news of malaria and hungry children, and a very dear friend got cancer. It made her remodeling concerns seem trivial.

“He was getting sicker and sicker, and I didn’t have the time or the money to really throw myself into helping him. I was spending a lot of time and money on my house. So the house was the easiest thing to try to get rid of.”